Classic Granola

I love granola and have been looking for a good recipe to make myself. This one is very tasty!



Classic Granola
(Thanks Cooks Illustrated)

1 cup walnuts, chopped
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup blanched almonds, slivered (or halved)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup raisins or craisins (optional)

Kelsie's Extra:
Brown sugar (optional)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix first 6 ingredients together in a large bowl.

Heat syrup and honey together with oil in a small saucepan, whisking occasionally until warm. Pour mixture over dry ingredients. Stir with spatula until mixture is thoroughly coated. Put mixture onto a cookie sheet and spread into an even layer.

Bake, stirring and respreading mixture into an even layer every 5 minutes until granola is light brown, about 15 minutes. Immediately turn granola onto another cookie sheet to stop the cooking process. Stir in raisins, then spread granola evenly in pan. Set on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Loosen granola with a spatula. Store in an airtight container.

**Optional: If you like it a little sweeter, toss the finished mixture in a little bit of brown sugar. It is delicious both ways!**

Beef and Shrimp Fajitas

Beef Fajitas

2 oz (4 Tbsp) vegetable oil
3 oz (6 Tbsp) lime juice
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 lb beef skirt steak, flank steak or london broil
1-2 bell peppers (assorted colors) cut into strips
1 onion, cut into thick strips
Mushrooms, sliced
Pepper jack cheese, grated
Tortillas
*Optional ingredients: Guacamole, sour cream, salsa, extra lime*


Mix together 3 Tbsp of the vegetable oil, the lime juice, cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt and pepper. Place the meat in a ziplock bag or a bowl and cover with the marinade. Turn the meat so it is coated on all sides. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Remove meat from the marinade. Grill the meat on both sides on a grill or under a broiler until it is lightly charred and rare to medium done.

While the beef is grilling, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the peppers and saute briefly, keeping them slightly crisp. Remove peppers from the pan and saute the mushrooms and onions the same way.

When the beef is finished, remove it from the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes. Slice the meat across the grain into thin slices.


Warm the tortillas and top with the veggies and sliced beef, cheese and any optional ingredients.



For the shrimp fajitas, I just used a garlic & lime shrimp marinade that I have. It is delicious!




Garlic & Lime Shrimp

1 lb uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lime
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp onion powder

Mix the salt, pepper, cayenne, parsley, garlic powder, paprika, thyme and onion powder together in a small bowl.

Preheat a skillet. Add butter and stir in garlic. Let the garlic cook for about 30 seconds to a minute on medium heat. Add shrimp. Cut lime in half, squeeze over shrimp. Sprinkle seasoning mixture over and stir. Cook until shrimp turns pink. Taste your shrimp and check to see if your seasonings are right.

Spinach Enchiladas

These enchiladas are so delicious! They are a little time consuming, but by doing a couple things different, I was able to cut down the time a little bit. I will post my revisions instead. This is not the most beautiful plate, but enchiladas really aren't that pretty. :)




Spinach Enchiladas
(Thanks Emeril Lagasse!)

4 Poblano chile peppers (Last time I went to the store they didn't have any, so I looked on the heat scale they had and ended up buying anaheim peppers instead and got 2 extra because they were smaller and they tasted good as well. Poblano are still my favorite, but you can substitute if you can't find them)
2 pounds frozen spinach
A couple handfuls of mushrooms, chopped up
8 Tbsp unsalted butter (split)
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
pinch cayenne
1/2 cup all purpose flour (split)
2 cups half and half
1 cup cubed queso fresco (I used this the first time, and couldn't find it the second time so I used mozzarella. Both tasted really similar)
1 cup cubed pepper jack (Plus a little extra grated for the top)
Parmesan (or I used asiago or just straight pepper jack for the top)
6-12 flour tortillas (this will depend on how big you want your enchiladas. We make huge ones and get 6 out of it)
1 cup vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Thaw out your spinach and let drain in a colander. When you are ready for the spinach, squeeze out all the excess water. (There will be a ton!)

Roast the peppers and then place them in a bowl covered with plastic wrap, a ziplock bag or a paper bag and let them rest until cool enough to handle. Peel the peppers, split in half lenghtwise and discard the seeds, veins and stems. Roughly chop and set aside.

In a large saucepan or a large tall sided frying pan, melt 4 Tbsp of the butter over medium high heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook, stirring, until the onions are very soft. Add the garlic, chili powder, salt, pepper and cayenne and cook stirring for about a minute. Add 1/4 cup of the flour and cook stirring to make a light roux (about 2 minutes). Gradually add the half and half and cook until thick. Add the spinach and stir incorporate. Remove from the heat and fold in half of the chopped chiles, adjust the seasoning to taste. Fold in the cubed cheeses and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the remaining 4 Tbsp of butter of medium heat. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour and cook, stirring constantly to make a light roux. Slowly add the stock and cook until thickened. Add the cream and cook until thick. Add the remaining roasted peppers and cook for 1 minute.

Fill your tortillas with the spinach mixture and put into a 13 x 9 pan (or bigger if you have more) and pour the sauce over the top. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover evenly with the grated pepper jack and either parmesan or asiago (or neither if you don't want them) and return to the oven and bake until the cheeses are melted and the enchiladas are completely warmed through. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Orange Chile Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Every time I've ever seen pork, it looks so dry. It just always gets super overcooked. This is a really good way to cook pork and keep it juicy.

Orange Chile Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Pork Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins (When you buy a package of pork tenderloins, it will generally have two in it)
1 gallon cold water
1/2 cup table salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp table salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Glaze Ingredients:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1-2 tsp red chile flakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Trim the silver skin off both tenderloins.
2. Add cold water and 1/2 cup salt to a large bowl or small bucket to make a brine. Add pork and brine in the fridge for at least 1 hour. (Longer would be fine).
3. Make the orange glaze while the tenderloin is in the brine. Combine orange juice, sugar and chile flakes in a small sauce pan or frying pan. Bring to a simmer and let simmer until it gets thick like a glaze. Set aside.



4. Whisk cornstarch, sugar, salt and black pepper in a small bowl until combined.
5. Pat tenderloins dry with paper towels, then roll in cornstarch mixture until evenly coated on both sides. Thoroughly pat off excess cornstarch mixture. Too much cornstarch will leave gummy spots on the tenderloin.
6. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat until just beginning to smoke. Reduce heat to medium and put both tenderloins in the skillet. Cook until well browned on all sides. Transfer tenderloins to a wire rack set in a cookie sheet.



7. Brush tenderloin with orange glaze and put into preheated oven. Let roast until the thickest part of the pork reads 145-150.
8. Remove from oven, brush with glaze and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.


Slice and serve

Cranberry Orange Pound Cake

This pound cake is super delicious! I found it on this website and decided to try it out. It is probably one of my favorite pound cakes I've ever tried.




Cranberry Orange Pound Cake

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
2 tsp orange zest (peel)
1 tsp vanilla
6 eggs
8 oz sour cream (1 cup)
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cranberries
2 apples, diced

Preheat oven to 350

1. Grease and flour a bundt pan (extremely well or the top of the cake will stick and get stuck in it)
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in orange zest and vanilla.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg.
4. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix in sour cream.
5. Fold in cranberries and apples.
6. Pour batter (it's really thick) into the greased bundt pan. Bake for 65-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool about 15-30 minutes before removing from the pan.
7. Drizzle on the glaze while the cake and the glaze is still warm.

Glaze

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 cube butter
1/2 cup half and half

1. In a medium saucepan mix the sugar and the flour. Stir in butter and half and half.
2. Cook over medium head until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly
3. Drizzle over cake while still warm

Derby Pie

Derby Pie

(Enough filling for 1, 10” or 2, 8” pies)

2 eggs

½ cup butter

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

½ cup flour

1 cup sugar

¼ tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp bourbon (Optional)

Melt butter. Add flour, sugar and slightly beaten eggs. Stir in nuts. Add vanilla. Stir in chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, the top should be golden brown.

(You will need to pre-bake your pie crusts for this recipe, bake them for 10-15 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Let them cool and then fill with pie filling)

Ready to go in the oven:

Cut open. You can see how the chocolate chips all sink to the bottom:

Cheesecake

Cheesecake

(Makes 3, 8” or 2, 10” cheesecakes)

Graham cracker crust

3 lbs 9 oz (7 cups) Cream cheese, room temperature

1 lb 2 oz (2 ¼ cups) sugar

¼ oz (1 ½ tsp) salt

15 oz (1 ½ cups + 1 Tbsp) eggs (Probably around 15 medium eggs)

1 ½ oz (3 Tbsp) egg yolk

7 ½ oz (3/4 cup + 3 Tbsp) heavy cream (or sour cream will work as well)

.75 oz (4 ½ tsp) vanilla extract

1. Coat the cake pans with a light film of fat and line them with parchment circles

2. Press the crust mixture evenly into the bottom of each pan

3. Combine the cream cheese, sugar and salt and mix on medium speed with the paddle attachment, occasionally scraping down the bowl, until the mixture is completely smooth, about 3 minutes

4. Whisk the eggs and egg yolks together. Add the eggs to the cream cheese mixture in very small amounts, making sure to scrape down the sides after each addition and making sure they are fully incorporated. This may take up to 6 additions. This will make it so it is not lumpy and perfectly smooth.

5. Add the heavy cream and vanilla, mix until fully incorporated

6. Add batter to pans, gently tap to release air bubbles

7. Bake in a hot water bath at 325 (or 300) until the centers of the cakes are set, about 1 hour

8. When the timer goes off, turn the oven off and leave the cheesecakes in the oven without opening the door for 30 minutes – 1 hour

9. Cool the cakes completely in the pans on wire racks. Wrap the cakes in plastic and refrigerate overnight to set.

Variations:

Chocolate cheesecake: To 4 cups batter for 1, 8” cake, add 5 Tbsp sifted cocoa powder and blend well.

White chocolate cheesecake: To 5 cups batter for 1, 8” cake, add ¾ cup melted white chocolate and blend well.

Marble cheesecake: To 1 cup batter for 1, 8” cake, add 4 Tbsp melted bittersweet chocolate: Pour the chocolate batter into 4 cups plain batter and gently swirl three or four times with the end of a wooden spoon. Do not over mix. Pour the marbleized batter into the prepared pan and proceed as directed above

Lemon cheesecake: To 5 cups batter for 1, 8” cake, add 4 Tbsp lemon juice and the grated zest of one lemon and blend well.

Pumpkin cheesecake: To 3 cups batter for 1, 8” cake, add 1 ¼ cup pumpkin puree and blend well.